Lucy's New Toy

A few of you have asked about Lucy and how she is doing, I must admit that I am a bit behind on keeping you all updated on how things are going with her. But let me assure you that she is doing well and adjusting rather nicely. I still have to ask myself, is this a three year old dog, she acts so much like a puppy. Running, jumping, chewing on anything and everything that she can sink her teeth into. As you can see from the picture above it took her five minutes to totally destroy her new chew toy that I bought for her.

As for house training she is doing great, eating, well lets just say that she has a mighty big appetite. Whatever I put down for her she manages to clean her bowl without any problems. I'm just hoping that she starts to put on some weight and few pounds would do her some good.

I bought her a new crate, (half the size of the one she had been using), it takes up less space and I think she likes it a lot better. She also got a new bed for inside her crate, I just hope that when I get home from work some morning that I don't find it chewed up like her new toy. She is only in her crate when I can not supervise her every move. I do believe her favorite spot is on my lap though, she has become attached to me it seems. It is nice to see this little girl come out of her shell and enjoy a dogs life.

She and my Sheltie (Shelby) have become best buds, they play a lot and at times I have to intervene because I think Shelby gets a little carried away. After all she is like eight times bigger then Lucy, and although Shelby is only playing she has no idea she can hurt her. So far this has been a win win situation Shelby has another dog that she can play with and Lucy seems to enjoy the attention.

My only problem is trying to find a way of getting Lucy to go into her crate when I tell her to. As of now it becomes a cat and mouse kind of game with her. She is such a smart dog, she knows when I want to put her in her crate, and yes I know I can't blame the poor little girl for not wanting to be locked up, after all I am sure in a crate is the last place she wants to be. But for her own sake it's the best place for her when I am gone or sleeping. I'm hoping in time we can figure this out and have this happy little Lucy go in her crate knowing that it is just for a short period of time.

Well that's about all I have for now, I really need to go and find out what Lucy is into, the house is way to quiet. I can only hope that she is curled up in my favorite chair waiting for me instead of chewing on something she shouldn't be.

Good night all.

Lucy Update

Here we are several days sense the last up date on Lucy and let me tell you that a lot has changed and happened. First of all Lucy has did a complete turn around and is now this happy little girl who hasn't a care in the world. She spends her days running through the house like it's on fire, chewing on bones, and still trying to take clothes out of the hamper and dragging them into the family room. She also spends some time in her crate which she doesn't seem to mind, I think she realizes that this is her down time.



I made an appointment for Lucy at the Veterinary Clinic to have a check up, I noticed she had a bit of blood in her urine and wanted to know what was causing this. Once there we weighed her and found out she weighs a whole 6.70 pounds, the Vet did say she could stand to put on a few more pounds. While there they also checked a wound that she had on her side, we are not sure what caused this but the Vet shaved the spot and cleaned it. It was decided to do nothing to the wound from the outside, just keep it dry and clean and treat it with Clavamox Tabs which she has to take twice a day. I am willing to say that while she was at the puppy mill or rescue another dog might of bit her causing this wound. Next it was time for her Rabies Vaccination all other shots had been given to her at the rescue plus being wormed. As for the blood in her urine the Vet seems to think that Lucy is coming into her Heat Cycle thus causing the show of blood. But I on the other hand am wondering if she is coming IN or going OUT, I suppose time will tell, but if she should be just going out the big question is.... could she have been breed, either at the puppy mill if she was pinned with other dogs or at the rescue? I guess it doesn't really matter it has been decided that in a couple of weeks Lucy will be spaded. This is for health reasons and just so she does not have to go through having any more litters which is very hard on her little body.

As for the house training she is doing rather well, better then I had expected which makes me so very happy. And when it comes to eating she still gets a bit confused, even though she has her own bowl she seems to think she needs to eat out of Shelby's which I'm sure upsets Shelby sense she has to set until she gets the command of EAT. So once I get Lucy straighten out on which bowl is hers she is fine and has a good appetite. And the little trick of getting her to take her pill is hiding it in a finger tip full of cream cheese, works like a charm every time.

Shelby has adjusted her attitude and is getting along swell with Lucy, as for Celina well let's just say she is fine with her as long as Lucy is not in her face. And when it comes to Alex she is your typical Siamese, she could care less, so far no run ins with Lucy invading her space.

I can say that I am so glad that I decided to adopt Lucy, she has turned out to have this big puppy attitude in an adult dogs body. It seems that all she was waiting for was the opportunity to give back what she was given, and that is a lot of love and attention.

Day Four with Lucy (Who switched dogs)

I am setting here trying to figure out what happened to my shy and scared little Lucy, I instead have this brave little escape artist, thief and destroyer of everything. She has found her confidence and is acting more like a three month old puppy rather then a three year old dog. The morning seemed to have started out in the usual way except for the fact that when Lucy hopped out of her bed hanging from her collar was the clip and about a foot of the leash. It appears that sometime during the night she chewed on her leash and managed to chew it to where it is in two pieces, thus making her an escape artist. I tied the two ends together but now this retractable leash that was locked to not retract will no longer retract all the way. (Doesn't matter Lucy, I will still be using the leash and collar to keep track of you.)

First thing we did was head outside, lined up at the patio door was Shelby, Celina and of course Lucy. To my surprise Lucy did her job in record breaking time and back in the house we came. It is now breakfast time for all, Natural Choice and green beans was on the menu. As I sat Lucy's dish down in front of her she wasted no time in picking out the Natural Choice but would not touch the green beans. I am wondering if she will ever take a liking to green beans, didn't matter Shelby was standing by to eat what Lucy would not so nothing was wasted.

I had an appointment mid morning and knew I had to come up with something for Lucy. I did not want to let her run loose in the house, after all I wasn't sure how she would be left alone without supervision. I really didn't want to do this but I could not think of any thing else, so in came the dog crate. As I was setting it up I tried to watch Lucy's reaction, but she didn't seem to have one. I placed two big black garbage bags under the crate because I was going to put her bed and a bowl of water in it for her. If she were to spill the water bowl or have an accident at least my carpet would be spared. I placed Shelby's bed in the crate that just fit and then Lucy's bed on top of it, Lucy was going to have total comfort all the way. As I placed Lucy in the crate she went in with no problems, I even threw in a few of Shelby's toys she settled down in her bed and everything seemed fine. So off to the appointment I went, I was gone for about 3 hours and when I returned, oh my what a surprise I came home to. Don't ask me how she did this but she managed to get a hold of one of the big garbage bags, pulled it into the crate and chewed most of it into pieces. Need I say I think she was a little upset with being put in the crate, and so this makes her the destroyer.

Back on goes the leash and outside we go, the sun was shinning and the heat from it felt good I must of spent five minutes standing out there waiting for her to do something but she chose to do nothing. Back in the house we came and I dropped the leash and let her drag it around while I cleaned up the garbage bag mess she made. Well sometime during cleaning up the mess and heading to the kitchen to find me something for lunch, Lucy managed to chew her leash into two pieces again. No problem, I just once again tied the two ends together and placed it back on her even though this was getting to be old I wasn't going to give in and take the leash off.

After lunch I decided to check my emails and so to the bedroom and on the computer I go. I hadn't been on the computer very long when something told me to turn around, and when I did what did I see, I saw a white shirt of mine being dragged out the door and down the hall. So up I jumped to go and find out what was going on. As I entered the family room I saw on the floor, a pair of my pajama bottoms, one sock, a T-shirt and of course the white shirt I saw heading out my bedroom door. Lucy had found my laundry basket and was taking clothes out of it and dragging them to the family room floor. This had to be one of the funnest things I have seen her do yet. What made her do this I have no idea but she was having a ball doing it, and so this makes her a thief.

As for the rest of the day things were quiet except that once again Lucy chewed on her leash so I once again tied it together. I'll have to say it is not the prettiest leach now but it still works and I have sense decided to take it off of her and let her have her way. After all she is a Diva and what respectable Diva drags a leash around with her.

Lucy sure has surprised me today, like I said she is acting more like a puppy then an adult dog and I am so happy to see this. She probably didn't have much of a puppy life, and if she is happy with running through the house like the devil himself is after her, chewing up garbage bags, and dragging my clothes to the family room, then so be it. There will be plenty of time to correct this behavior, but for now it's all about letting Lucy be what she is suppose to be, one happy little Dachshund.

Day Three with Lucy

How does that saying go, three steps forward, and two steps back. Well we had a two and a half steps back kind of day today. Her potty training did not go as well today as it did yesterday. But there was no scolding her for the accidents she did have, after all she has no idea of what is to be expected of her. She was taken outside each time that Shelby and Celina went out, of course when it comes to Shelby and Celina when their feet hit the ground out side they know what to do. With Lucy, well that's another story, she is not so sure she likes the frozen ground or snow for that matter. I believe she is scared of being outside, and so she sticks pretty close to me walking around me all the while wrapping her leash around my feet. Plus her little body just shivers from the cold, I'm going to have to dig out a sweater of Celina's that fits her a little snug and see if it will fit Lucy. If not I know a tube socks with the foot part cut out and then two holes cut in it for her front legs will work. Should fit perfect with that long lean body of hers, and besides look at the fashion statement she will be making, she will be known as "Sock Diva".


It was not a good day for getting her to eat. I gated her once again in the kitchen gave her a bowl of food sat down at the kitchen table and watched her. She was not one bit interested in the food, so I thought maybe if I left the kitchen she will eat. Well needless to say that didn't work either, after a few minutes she realized I was not there and she could not see Shelby or Celina and so the howling began. Holy Toledo, I can not believe how loud a howl she has, she almost sounds like a 40 pound coon hound howling, how does that big sound come from that little body? Off to the kitchen I go to let her out and pick up the food bowl, decided we will try this later.


The day was a quiet one, if Lucy was not wrapped in a towel or throw on the sofa sleeping she was on my bed sleeping. At one point I had to smile, I was setting here in my bedroom working on the computer and I took a look around and saw that my followers were with me. Lucy was wrapped in her towel at the head of the bed sleeping, Celina was buried in the middle of the bed under the blankets sleeping, Alex (my three legged Siamese cat) was sleeping at the foot of the bed, and Shelby was sleeping at my feet. And so that was how most of our afternoon was spent, a lazy relaxing kind of day.


I've decided that having the collar and leash on Lucy for the most part of the day is not such a bad idea, where I go she goes, but there are times when I just let go of the leash and she drags it around with her, especially when she is trying to play with the other dogs.
But at one point I was setting on the sofa and she was on the floor by my feet so I just bent down and unhooked the leash. I got up and walked away from the sofa and she got up and was following right behind me, she had no idea she was no longer hooked to the leash. It won't be long before we no longer will be using the leash, but for now it makes it a lot easier to keep track of her.


I've also come to realize that it is probably not such a good idea of picking Lucy up and placing her either on the sofa or bed. Even though she will stay there until I pick her back up and put her on the floor, I know there will come a time when she will get brave enough to try and jump down by herself. And this will not be good, by jumping down she could cause injury to her back or little legs. So I believe she needs a bed of her own. My daughter Micki had given me a set of low sided wood and wicker stacking boxes. The middle one is just the right size for a bed, I found a small down filled sage green throw for the bedding, and before I knew it Lucy's bed was made. She loves it, she hops right in and buries herself under the throw, and with it being a down filled one I am sure it keeps her pretty warm. Just goes to show that nothing is to good for this Diva Dachshund, pampering this little girl is what it's all about.


Tried once again to feed Lucy but she just would not eat, I did see her drinking and I am OK with that, as long as she is drinking she will be OK, her appetite will pick up sooner or later. I've got to remember she is still adjusting and has a lot to learn yet, but I am happy with her progress so far. And I have faith that we will master the house training also, another day, and a new beginning for Lucy.

Day Two with Lucy

March 3, 2010

Today was a little bit better day for Lucy, it's not to say that some things still don't scare her at times. And she still has a problem with being picked up, but we are working on that plus a boat load of other things. I've decided to have a collar and leash on Lucy at all times, well at least until she gets a little more use to her surroundings. It's just a lot easier keeping her beside me instead of letting her run off or under something and it taking me hours of hunting her down, plus it's teaching her how to walk on a leash. This seems to be working rather well for us, she follows me around without any resistance until I go somewhere she is afraid to go. Like stepping out on the patio in order to take her in the back yard for a potty break. She puts her breaks on and I just have to gently pull her while telling her it's OK. But I am happy to say that after several potty breaks and with Shelby and Celina taking them Lucy has already learned not to be afraid of going out, when I say lets go out, Shelby and Celina are first in line and then here is little Lucy wagging her tail right behind them. They told me Lucy was not house trained, but (knock on wood) she has not had an accident in the house at all today. Then again I'm not to happy with standing out in the yard with her forever each time I take her out, but I have hopes that once I am sure she knows what going outside is all about she will be able to hurry up and go and come right back in. I've got to remember that this is all new to her and she really is doing a wonderful job of adjusting.

Next it was time to feed everyone, there is no problem with eating when it comes to Shelby and Celina, those two usually beat me to the kitchen and little Celina is over by her feed bowl setting up on her hind legs looking like a prairie dog. And Shelby is pacing back and forth watching my every move. The menu everyday is Natural Choice dog food with a topping of green beans, I don't know what it is but Shelby and Celina go crazy over the green beans.
Once it is placed in their bowls there is no holding back Celina, she dives right in and has it gone in no time at all. As for Shelby she is trained to not eat until she gets the OK. I can place her food in the bowl and she will set there watching my every move until I give the command of EAT. I can say any other word and motion for her to eat but she will not until she hears the word EAT.

She makes me proud, only wish I had that kind of control over her barking. Next it was Lucy's turn to eat, I placed a bowl of Natural Choice and green beans in front of her and she walked away from it, (this is not a good sign). So I picked Lucy up along with her bowl of food and sat down at the kitchen table, I tried hand feeding her, I placed a green bean in her mouth and she looked straight ahead and after a few seconds she spit out the green bean. I thought maybe she doesn't like green beans, so next was a piece of dog food, she would not look at me and once again she spit out the dog food. I could see this was not going to work, so I feed the green beans to Shelby, she was happy to get the extra helping of beans. Once again I decided not to force the issue of her eating, I thought we would give it a try a little later on. And so later on we did try again, this time I decided to gate her in the kitchen by herself and put the bowl of food down and leave. I was gone for some time and when I returned I took the gate down and noticed that Lucy's leash was tangled around the kitchen chair legs. So I was busy untangling her and I hadn't notice if she had eaten any of her food, so when I did look of course the bowl was empty but I didn't know if while I was untangling her leash did Shelby hoof the food down. UGH....

Only thing I could do was tell myself that we would try this again and make darn sure checking the feed bowl would be the first thing I do.

The afternoon was a quiet lazy one, Lucy did a lot of sleeping, as long as she is wrapped up in a towel or blanket she seems to be a happy camper. She did at times seem to enjoy chasing after Shelby and Celina wagging her tail the whole time doing so. It's little moments like this that gives me hope that she will come around and become that happy little Dachshund that I know she wants to be.

I talked to my niece Sherie, and told her about Lucy, she herself has a Dachshund named Trixie, a Black and Tan cutie. Sherie said her daughter Lauren and son Ethan would love to see her. So I made plans to take Lucy over to meet them plus let her get acquainted with Trixie. As I walked into Sherie's home she had Trixie in her cage and another dog that she was dog watching named Zeek running loose. Zeek got along swell with Lucy and so we thought it was a good time to let Trixie out to meet Lucy. Trixie took one look and sniff of Lucy and ran away, she ended up on the other side of the room lying down and looking like she was pouting. Poor little Lucy tried her hardest to get close to Trixie but Trixie would not have anything to do with her, Trixie even went as far as hiding under the sofa and chair. The picture above shows how Trixie was not going to have any part of playing with Lucy. Lucy and I decided it was time to head home, but said that we would try for another visit with Trixie at a later time.

Once home it was time to see if Lucy would eat for me. So I once again placed a bowl of food down for her and gated her in the kitchen. I went to the computer and after awhile I head this howling sound, I realized that it was Lucy howling. How in the world could such a loud howling come from such a little body. Lucy was not happy with being gated in the kitchen away from Shelby and Celina. So I took the gate down and check her food bowl and lo' and behold she had eaten all of the food, I now knew that she was eating so that made me feel a lot better.

Our evening has wound down and Lucy is wrapped in her towel and is behind me sleeping in my bed at the moment. As I set here typing this blog my mind wanders to the hundreds of dogs who are in rescues or puppy mills, it saddens me to think that many of these dogs will never have a forever home. And all they want is a warm home, food and someone to love them. I wish that I could have and take care of more dogs, but the town I live in only allows me to have three. I can't save all the homeless dogs, I just wish that more people could find it in their hearts to go to the shelters and rescues to adopt. You won't be sorry you did, you will end up with a faithful friend and companion for a very long time.

Good Night all.

Day One with Lucy

March 2, 2010


Today I adopted a dog that is 3 years old and has never been named. She is a Mini Dachshund who is scared of everything. You see she is a puppy mill dog, a dog that is only given a number instead of a name. And who was kept in a cage all 3 of those years and breed twice but each time had to have a C-section because of her size. So with having to have two C-sections she was not a profit dog and was thrown away.

This mini Dachshund is a beautiful little girl, her color is Mahogany, a gorgeous shade of red with black mixed in. I was undecided whether or not on getting her, but one look at this tiny little dog and I decided that she deserved a chance in having a normal life. I would do whatever I could to change her life around and make her a unafraid, and happy little Dachshund, I now know I have my work cut out for me. And so I've decided to name this sweet little girl "Lucy".

The 40 minute car ride home went better then I had expected, Lucy sat on the toweled covered front seat of my car. At first she was scared and was looking for a place to run to but realized there was no place to run so she laid down. I noticed that every little bump in the road scared her, but it didn't take her long to get use to them so they were no longer a bother to her. She finally fell asleep with the sun shinning through the window on her, I think the warmth of the sun felt good to her tiny body, that probably never before had sun light on it.

Once home all hell broke loose, I clipped a leash to her collar and tried picking her up from the front seat, Lucy went nuts, she just does not like to be picked up. I suppose she hadn't been picked up to many times during her 3 years at the puppy mill. I managed to get control of her and got her out of the car and placed her on the ground. BIG mistake on my part, Lucy went even more nuts, she was so scared and afraid, she fought the leash and collar and was jumping and twisting just trying to get away. I was afraid the collar would give way and off she would go and there would be no way of stopping her. So I bent down to try and pick her up, this scared her even more, she tried biting me not once but twice. I was not afraid of her biting, I was more afraid of her getting loose. So after several times of trying to get a good hold on her I managed to do so, and straight into the house we went. All I could think of is, what have I gotten myself into with this little girl, I wasn't sure what to do with her next. My first thought was to unleash her in the bathroom and let her get settled down for a bit. So off to the bathroom we went, after unleashing her she paced the floor and sniffed under the door trying to figure out who was barking at her from the other side. The barker on the other side was my good old barking Shetland sheepdog Shelby, and of course at times also barking was my little Chihuahua Selina. This barking did not scare Lucy, I am so sure she was use to barking dogs at the puppy mill, she just wanted to see and meet the barkers on the other side of the door. I was told that Lucy liked other dogs and got along with them just fine, this amazes me to think how does a dog who is kept in a cage for 3 years get along with other dogs. Maybe she was in a cage with other dogs, this I do not know but I was ready to open the bathroom door and let Shelby and Celina meet their new sister Lucy.

As I opened the door Shelby was standing guard on the other side, Lucy darted out wagging her little tail the whole time, you could see she was excited to see another dog. Both dogs did the sniffing thing on each other and Shelby gave a little low growl as if to say, get out of my face. It didn't take Celina long to get into the action of meeting Lucy, she took one sniff and you could tell she wasn't sure she liked her. I suppose both Shelby and Celina were thinking oh no, another butt sniffing dog in the house. So before it got to the point that Lucy annoyed both Shelby and Celina to where they tried to nip at her, I went to pick her up, and of course that was the wrong thing to do, again Lucy did not want to be picked up. But I managed to get a tight hold on her and to the sofa we went.

The people at Heritage Farms Rescue who rescued Lucy from the puppy mill told me that in a weeks time I would see a huge difference in Lucy's behavior and that all I needed to do was give her lots of love and cuddles. I could give her lots of love but as for the cuddles, whoa I wasn't to sure I could do that at this point, you see Lucy stunk so bad, I'm sure it would be a safe bet to say that she never in her life had a bath. So I thought what the heck, lets see how this little girl would do with getting a bath, I mean how bad could it be? Well to my surprise she did wonderful, for a brief moment I thought she was going to dart, jump, and spread her long ears and fly from me, but she settled down and I'd have to say she enjoyed the bath. It probably felt good having some warm water and tons of lather on her skin. I first used an Oatmeal shampoo, followed by two more lathers of a medicated shampoo, rinsed her off and wrapped her in a big warm bath towel. She smelled 100% better and her fur had this beautiful shine to it, most of all she seemed content and happy, little Lucy was learning what it was like to be a pampered pooch for the first time in her life.

Next it was time to see if I could get her to eat something, she is so thin you can feel her bony back bones I am sure she is under weight. They told me she was eating dry dog food, so dry dog food it is, but I could not get her to eat. So I decided not to force the issue, thought it might take a bit of time for her to adjust to things. I really feel that she is just so scared of this new environment that it may take longer then a week for her to come around, time will tell I suppose.
Now it was time for the both of us to try and get some sleep. The big question now is what do I do with her, I did not want to put her in a crate for the night after all that is where she has spent all of her life so far. And I did not want to let her wander around the house, who wants to play hide and seek the next morning? So the only thing left was to warp her back up in the big towel and take her to bed with me. As I placed her next to me and with me being a side sleeper with my arm stretched out to the side she felt she needed to have her head in the crook of my arm, and this is how we both fell asleep.